After two little boys used the family bathtub as a "battle arena" for Beyblades, a spinning top toy, their mom had to get the tub resurfaced. As punishment, the mom decided to sell their Beyblades on eBay and use the proceeds, plus the money in their piggy banks, to pay for the $500 repairs. It sounds pretty harsh (particularly when you look at their sad little faces), but the mom payed the price — and then some — after 4chan took up the boys' cause.

For the past week the band of internet hooligans has been driving up the bidding to more than $9,000, and Urlesque has screenshots of the entire campaign. If you're familiar with 4chan's brand of online vigilanteism, you can probably guess how things went down. At first the prank seems slightly justified, and there are some amusing moments, like when a bidder asks, "Is it possible to get a vial of their tears included with my beyblades?" Then things go too far when the mom's address and work information are posted online, and eventually the discussion devolves into offensive Nazi jokes.

The auction has been shut down, and presumably 4chan has moved on to destroying the lives of some other internet denizens.